The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Hill Climb Team rounded off its hugely successful 2014 competition season with yet another class win at the Harewood Hill Climb Greenwood meeting.

This brings the team's impressive tally to 6 wins in the Sports Libre class at Harewood and the Longton & District Northern Speed Championship, 2 class records and one overall Fastest Time of the Day. These results have culminated in being awarded 2nd place in the prestigious Harewood Fastest Time of the Day Championship.

The Racetec car, an OMS fitted with a 180 BHP Suzuki motor cycle engine, is driven by Richard Vaughan from Wilsden, Thorite's Marketing Manager. Richard was awarded with a stunning cut glass trophy for his FTD at the Jim Thompson meeting which he keeps forever, but he was puzzled not to also receive the renowned Jim Thompson Trophy. He contacted the organisers and discovered that last year's recipient had yet to return the trophy, but he was presented with it last weekend.

Speaking after his success Richard said: "Winning the FTD award and coming a close second in the FTD Championship has justified all the hard work the team and I have put into developing the car and hopefully has more than justified the commitment and encouragement of my sponsors. The icing on the cake was receiving the Jim Thompson Trophy which is an impressive bronze depicting a 1950's-style race car flying up a hill. The trophy weighs around 40lbs and now has pride of place on my sideboard, as the weight would destroy the glass shelves in my trophy cabinet. My wife has given me permission to display the trophy for a month as she finds it rather overpowering, but I'm hoping she'll eventually treasure it as much as I do for the 12 months it will be in our care."

The Racetec OMS already has incredible performance, capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in a little under 3 seconds, and incorporates advanced technology including clutchless gear change and on-board data logging. The car's main sponsor is Thorite, the UK’s biggest independent distributor of pneumatic products and process systems, supported by SIP and Redashe.

The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Hill Climb Team was in action at Harewood again last weekend, taking part in the Summer Championship Hill Climb on Saturday and the Montagu Burton Trophy Meeting on Sunday, setting winning times in the Sports Libre Class at both events. Racetec Driver/Team Owner Richard Vaughan has invested a great deal of time developing the single seat racing car into a Sports Libre contender and it is now repaying all his hard work by providing his best hill climbing and sprint season so far: Out of 6 events this year Richard has won his class 5 times, set class records at Three Sisters track in Wigan and the Blyton circuit near Gainsborough, albeit for only 24 hours when Dan Mason took it the following day! The cream on the cake was setting the overall Fastest Time of the Day award in June at Harewood’s Jim Thompson Meeting to win the Jim Thomson memorial Trophy. Speaking after his latest double success Richard said: “The car just keeps getting better and I’m currently lying 7th out of 25 in the Harewood Fastest Time of the Day Championship, which is open to the ten fastest drivers at each meeting, even though I started the season late and missed the first two events. The OMS is still very much a “work in progress” project - phase one included fitting enveloping rear bodywork and phase two will see the replacement of the two individual front mudguards with completely streamlined Le Mans-style bodywork. I also hope to add a turbocharger to produce even more engine power.”

The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Hill Climb Team performed strongly at Blyton Park Race Circuit Sprint on the weekend of 12/13 July, gaining a Class Win on Saturday and setting a new Class Record time slashed from 71.63 to 66.85 seconds for the 1.5 mile lap. Sunday saw Racetec cutting the record again to 65.90 seconds, only to be beaten by second place man Daniel Mason after a fail in the last run.

The Racetec car, driven by Richard Vaughan from Wilsden, Thorite’s Marketing Manager, is an OMS single seater fitted with a Suzuki GSXR 1000 engine which develops 180 BHP. Richard has extensively developed the chassis and bodywork, converting the car from a single seat racer to a Sports Libre class.

Speaking of his latest success Richard said: “The Thorite-sponsored Racetec car is really showing its true potential. The sprint at Blyton Park enabled me to hold the record for 24 hours before a fraught Sunday, a fractured brake line causing a brake failure at over 120mph followed by a clutch problem, but we managed to carry out repairs in time to make the timed runs which count.”

Richard is already enjoying his best season ever, which began in the redesigned car at Harewood Hillclimb in early June where he set Fastest Time of the Day as well as a Class win, followed by a Class Win and new Class Record at 3 Sisters Circuit Spring on June 29th.

The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Hill Climb Team enjoyed a string of successes on Saturday 7th June, competing in the Jim Thomson Memorial meeting at Harewood Hill Climb near Leeds. Not only did their redesigned and upgraded race car take its first Class win, but also set Fastest Time of the Day in extremely difficult conditions on a very wet track. Driven by Richard Vaughan from Wilsden, Thorite's Marketing Manager, the Racetec OMS single seater racing car has recently been fitted with a Suzuki GSXR 1000 engine which now develops 180 BHP rather than its previous 155. Richard has also developed the chassis and bodywork, converting the car from a single seat racer to a Sports Libre class. Although Richard has taken many class wins in the past this was the first success for the car in its new format, the first time he's gained FTD and also the first time the car has been seen carrying Thorite's new corporate branding. Speaking of his latest success Richard said: "The Thorite-sponsored Racetec car performed brilliantly. The class win was particularly pleasing as I've had last minute problems with development and spent every night in the week on the run up to the event working into the early hours. In fact the car was totally untried until first practice on Sunday morning, so to come away with this result after what was effectively a test day is quite amazing." The Racetec OMS now has true supercar performance, capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in a little under 3 seconds, and bristles with technology including clutchless gear change and on-board data logging. The car’s main sponsor is Thorite, the UK’s biggest independent distributor of pneumatic products and process systems, supported by SIP and Redashe. The Jim Thomson Memorial meeting is a round of the 2014 Harewood Speed Hill Climb Championship and yesterday’s success bodes well for the rest of the season.

Following closely in the footsteps of co sponsor SIP, is Redashe who have announced that they will be supporting the Thorite Racetec Team again for the 2014 season. Redashe Sales Director Steve Milner is a very keen supporter of the team. He sees Redashes involvement as truly beneficial to his company as many of their products are used in Automotive and Motorsport markets. Redashe have supplied Formula 1 teams with hose reels in the past so they are no strangers to the fast moving world of motorsport.

Long term sponsor SIP - Group Ltd have agreed to support the Thorite - Ractec sprint and hill climb team again for a fourth consecutive season.Racetec driver and team principle, Richard Vaughan commented that he was delighted to welcome SIP on board again for 2014. " Paul Ippaso (SIP MD) has been a keen supporter of the team, at times even attending events and we'd have nowhere near the level of success without his and his company's support"SIP products range from air tools, compressors and welding plant to hand tools and spray equipment. Their products are particularly popular amongst trade and DIY automotive and motorsport users.

The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Team sprint and speed hillclimb car had another successful weekend, competing in a sprint event at Blyton Park Race Circuit near Gainsborough as part of the 2013 Northern Speed Championship. Driven by Racetec's Richard Vaughan from Wilsden, the 1100cc Suzuki motorbike-engined Racetec OMS single seater racing car was pipped for first place on Saturday by just 0.12 of a second, but managed a storming first place on Sunday thanks to Richard studying some in-car video taken at last year's event. Speaking of his success Richard said: "On Saturday I was puzzled as to why my times were slower than I expected. The car was running perfectly and I was hitting well over 100mph in places. On Sunday afternoon I was lying second, but before the final run I checked last year's video footage and realised the circuit had been slightly changed by the addition of some high kerbs in the fast chicanes. My solution was to attack the kerbs, which fortunately worked - I was faster than the second placed competitor by 0.75 of a second, and took 0.25 of a second off my previous best time at the venue!" The 160 BHP Racetec OMS is a compact single seater with true supercar performance, capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in a little over 3 seconds, and bristles with technology including clutchless gear change and on-board data logging. The car's main sponsor is Thorite, supported by SIP, Redashe and Force handtools, all of whom were delighted with Richard's decision to add in-car video to the specification, which assisted so much in this latest victory and will boost Richard's Championship points haul..

The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Team sprint and speed hillclimb car had a hugely successful first round 2013 Northern Speed Championship debut at 3 Sisters Race Circuit near Wigan, taking its first ever class win at this venue. Driven by Richard Vaughan from Wilsden, Thorite's Marketing Manager, the Racetec OMS single seater racing car performed flawlessly all day, enabling Richard to begin this year's Championship campaign in fine style by taking maximum points from this closely-fought sprint race. Speaking after the event Richard said: "Following regular successes last year the continued support of my sponsors Thorite, SIP, Redashe and Force handtools has enabled me to make numerous improvements to the car over the winter. These include clutchless gear change technology and an increase in engine power, plus a data logging system. This lets me review on a laptop exactly how both myself and the car are performing on each run, by providing information on corner speeds, G forces in acceleration, deceleration and cornering, then linking this data to driver input via the throttle and brakes. My first ever class win at 3 Sisters is ample proof that all the updates are working even better than I'd dared to hope and I’m really looking forward to more success in the near future." The Northern Speed Championship runs from April to October and comprises 17 one and two day events, held at 3 Sisters Race Circuit in Wigan, Harewood Hill Climb near Leeds, Oliver's Mount Hill Climb in Scarborough, Ty Croes Race Circuit in Anglesey and Blyton Park Race Circuit in Lincolnshire.

The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Sprint and Speed Hillclimb car was competing in the two day Westfield Sportscar Club Sprint at Blyton Park Circuit in Lincolnshire at the weekend. Third place in class was achieved on Saturday, while Sunday saw a further improvement in performance, lifting the car to a very satisfying second placing in class. The distinctive red and white Racetec OMS single seater is driven by Richard Vaughan from Wilsden, Thorite's Marketing Manager, who is campaigning in the closely-fought Northern Speed Championship. This is an annual series of events comprising runs against the clock on both motor racing circuits and hill climb courses throughout northern England. Whilst competing in the sprint Richard added a valuable haul of points to his existing Northern Speed Championship tally, taking second place on Saturday and maximum points on Sunday among the Championship contenders. These results are even more impressive considering that Richard had never driven on Blyton's extremely fast and technical circuit before. Thorite is Racetec's chief sponsor ably assisted by a number of leading pneumatics industry manufacturers including SIP compressors, FORCE industrial tools, Redashe hose reels and Chicago Pneumatic (CP) air tools. Racetec will next be in action at 3 Sisters Sprint Circuit in Wigan, challenging for more valuable Championship points in a one day sprint hosted by Chester Motor Club on Sunday August 5th.back | top

The Thorite-sponsored Racetec Sprint and Speed Hillclimb Team were in the thick of the action at 3 Sisters Race Circuit near Wigan yesterday, with both lead driver Richard Vaughan and his 21 year old son Matt adding to this season’s haul of trophies. Richard Vaughan from Wilsden, Thorite’s Marketing Manager, fought a day-long battle for class victory with current Northern Speed Championship leader and last year’s Northern Speed Champion Craig Powers on the fast and twisty circuit. Meanwhile Matt Vaughan, making his debut at 3 Sisters and competing in only his fourth event, collected a trophy for 4th place plus a further trophy for best performance by a novice, judged from the whole entry of over 100 competitors! Matt’s performance was all the more impressive as one of his runs included a 100mph spin and visit to the barriers on the circuit’s fastest corner. There was a heart-stopping moment for Richard and his wife when the circuit ambulance was called out, but happily Matt was unhurt, with Racetec’s OMS single seater race car suffering only superficial damage. Once the car had been examined by the scrutineers and given the all-clear it was time for Richard’s final run, which turned out to be his fastest of the day and earned him second place, just 2 tenths of a second behind Craig Powers. Speaking after the event Richard Vaughan said: “There’s been some very mixed emotions for the Racetec Team today, but overall I’m pleased with my performance and delighted that Matt has done so well. The car seems to get better at each event and I’d like to thank our chief sponsor Thorite, plus SIP compressors, FORCE industrial tools, Redashe hose reels and Chicago Pneumatic (CP) air tools, who also support the team for their continued assistance.” Racetec will next be in action at Blyton Circuit near Gainsborough for a weekend series of events organised by Westfield Sportscar Club on the 21st and 22nd of July.